Instant Recall: Bommarito Automotive Group 500

The ninth race of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES was worth the wait.

The twice-delayed Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline at World Wide Technology Raceway delivered in all forms Sunday night even if the checkered flags waved after midnight for viewers on the East Coast.

Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden (photo, above) was the biggest of the winners, capturing his fifth victory in the past seven trips to the 1.25-mile oval track east of St. Louis. The win was Newgarden’s sixth overall at WWTR and pushed his career win total to 34. He is now tied with Al Unser Jr.’s career mark, which ranks ninth in INDYCAR SERIES history.

Newgarden also continued his dominance on all ovals, winning for the 20th time on tracks that only turn left. How impressive are 20 such wins? That total would rank 23rd among the 299 drivers who have won races in this series. Newgarden is 2-for-2 on short ovals this season, having also captured the Good Ranchers 250 on March 7 at Phoenix Raceway. Interestingly, Newgarden’s past 11 wins have come on ovals. It’s been four years since he won on a road course or street circuit.

Sunday’s race was similar to the one in Phoenix in other ways, too. ECR’s Christian Rasmussen again was a blur to watch, and he challenged Newgarden in a side-by-side battle that illustrated just how good WWTR’s second lane was. Different this time was that Rasmussen completed the race distance. Contact with Andretti Global’s Will Power ended his race in Phoenix; he came home third in this one, earning his season-best finish.

Also like Phoenix, Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou failed to score a quality result. In the season’s second race, contact with Juncos Hollinger Racing’s Rinus VeeKay ended his race way too early. Here, running out of fuel coming to his final pit stop took away what likely would have been a top-five finish. He settled for 17th, losing 13 championship points to Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood, who finished sixth.

Andretti Global’s Marcus Ericsson delivered his best result in two years by finishing second (photo, top). He deserved better than that, too, after charging through the field early to lead 114 of the 260 laps. VeeKay (photo, above) also was a highlight of the event, finishing fourth. VeeKay was sixth in last month’s Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

This race had drama, too. Two of Chip Ganassi’s three drivers ran out of fuel, and Scott Dixon had to make an emergency stop in a closed pit to avoid doing the same as Palou and Kyffin Simpson. The weather certainly played a factor in the decisions of the strategists, as the race incurred two red-flag periods totaling 50 minutes due to light rain. The result was a variety of fuel options in play in the second half of the race.

Palou also found himself in a controversial moment on Lap 60. After darting to the inside of Arrow McLaren’s Nolan Siegel approaching Turn 1, their wheels touched. Siegel, whose car shot to the outside wall and suffered race-ending damage, was mystified as Palou continued and no penalties were assessed.

What comes next is a bit of rest for the drivers and crews of the 25 full-season cars. Sunday’s race ended a stretch of five consecutive competition weekends, with the “500” mixed in. It will be another 11 days before the first practice of the XPEL Grand Prix of Road America, a 55-lap race Sunday, June 21 (2 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX One, INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls).

Like the first half of the season, the second half should be worth the wait.